Kavinsky Outrun

How could we talk about Kavinsky without evoking the movie that introduced his music to the general public? Dazzling success of the independant film industry of the last decade, "Drive" is the kind of movies in which the soundtrack takes a front seat role. As in his previous realisations, Nicolas Winding Refn took great care, with the help of Cliff Martinez (former drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) to select the tracks that would feature in his latest movie. It's in this way he picked Nightcall for the opening scene, and we soon cannot tell anymore if the music responds to the picture or the contrary.

Kavinsky's long-awaited debut album Outrun features 13 tracks, including 8 previously unreleased and some reworks. From the first notes, we can hear Paul Hahn (manager of Daft Punk) recounting an introduction to the adventures of Kavinsky. Warm and electric, Blizzard makes its entrance and sets the tone before allowing ProtoVision to take its place, which with its nervous and synthetic melody was the first excerpt of Outrun that whas released on an EP. Then arrives Odd Look, the first vocal song of the record, which unveils a mysterious funky voice that can remind the groove of Marvin Gaye or Prince. It's then Rampage‘s turn to take us with its menacing orchestral atmosphere like in Dragon Ball Z ; after what comes the persuasive beat of Suburbia on which notorious Havoc from Mobb Deep lent his voice. The upgraded version of Testarossa Autodrive confirms the efficacity of this unstoppable melody, and it's at this point we find Nightcall again, the famous ballad produced by Guy-Manuel from Daft Punk and featuring Lovefoxxx from CSS. Dead Cruiser arrives then, muscled yet melancholic, followed by Grand Canyon which takes us with its electrical ritournelle. The voice of Tyson, the funk revelation from UK, transformed the instrumental First Blood into a génuine hit. The rythmic and melodious Roadgame leads us to Endless, which gently closes this long-awaited revealing first opus, with as a conclusion a narrated epilogue by Paul Hahn again...